• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.186-196
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• 2007

Background : The aim of this study was to confirm the risk factors for low back pain and injury to improve the prevention and treatment of lower back pain. Materials and Methods : An epidemiologic study of low back pain and injury was performed with questionnaires distributed to 471 women working at Yeungnam university hospital. The differences in low back pain and injuries among various hospital departments were analyzed by a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the relevant factors included in the questionnaire were determined by a factor analysis. Results : The frequency of low back pain in women in the department of diet and in the maintenance department was higher than among the other departments. The frequency of low back pain was mainly related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms. In addition, the low back pain was partially related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms and partially related to the frequency of pushing during the workday. The degree of disability from low back pain was increased by lifting and hard physical work and was related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms and the degree of work dissatisfaction. The frequency of low back injury was increased by increased standing time during work and hard physical work. The frequency of low back injury was related to advancing age and in part to psychosomatic symptoms. Conclusion : Lower back pain and its associated complications are related to psychosomatic factors and type of work. Lower back injury is related to physiological factors such as age. For the prevention and treatment of lower back pain, a multidisciplinary approach is required.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2017

Objectives : This study was designed for the purpose of the relationship between psychopathology and suicide in North Korean Refugee Adolescents. Methods : The subjects were 104 North Korean Refugee Adolescents. We investigated the The Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. We also investigated the suicide ideation, planning and attempt. The self-report was taken to the North Korean Refugee Adolescents. Results : The Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Score(Z=-4.050, p<0.001), Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Score(t=-2.757, p<0.01), Rosenberg Self-Seteem Score(Z=-2.328, p<0.05) were significantly associated with the suicide ideation in North Korean Refugee Adolescents. In logistic regression analysis, only The Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Score(p<0.005) expected the suicidal ideation. Conclusions : The management of depression would be helpful to reduce the suicide in North Korean Refugee Adolescents.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.805-822
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• 2009

This study aims to investigate the mental health level of the elderly people living alone and examine the difference in mental health level by socio-demographic factors and analyze the factors impacting on mental health level. The study subjects were 131 elderly people living alone who lived in "G" city. Symptom Check List-90-Revision(SCL-90-R) was used to measure mental health level. The results of this study were as follows. First, the study subjects' mental health level(3.53, 5 rating scale) was very severe and this means the mental health level of elderly people living alone is more severe than the mental health level of general elderly people. The study subjects showed depression symptom most seriously and also had severe somatization symptom. Second, there was significant difference in mental health level by gender and education level among socio-demographic factors. Third, in the final regression model, statistically significant factors impacting on the mental health level of the elderly people living alone were life satisfaction, ADL, IADL, welfare service support, informal support, contact frequency with children, duration of living alone, subjective state of economy. And comprehensive(macro and micro) implications were recommended.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2007

Pain is subjective and greatly influenced by prior experiences, but it is real. Pain associated with an organic(objective) pathology is more easily explained and treated. However, atypical or unexplainable pain is usually a source of greater confusion and frustration. Pain may be divided into four general diagnostic categories. 1) pain with anatomic features and objective findings 2) pain with anatomic features and without objective findings 3) pain with non-anatomic features associated with stress and somatization 4) pain with non-anatomic features associated with perceived physical injury. There is a well-established relationship between emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse history and development of chronic pain. It has been suggested that the link between somatization and abuse involves a paradoxical pattern of hiding feelings and reality, while seeking acknowledgment of suffering. History of abuse may physiologically and developmentally increase a person's susceptability to pain and organic changes can be associated with psychogenic disease. Patients with chronic pain should be treated with multidisciplinary approaches including exercise, meditation, cognitive therapy, medications, and biofeedback. Cognitive therapy alters patient's cognition and management of pain and alleviates pain, especially associated with stress. Antidepressants are the most commonly used medications and pain control effects have no relation with mood changes. Biofeedback with relaxation training, exercise and meditation may also be effective in pain control.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2015

Objectives:Within the normal reproductive cycles of women, dramatic fluctuations of sexual hormones occur in the premenstrual and menopausal periods. In both periods, women are vulnerable to mood disturbances and show several somatic complaints. Based on these common clinical profiles and physiological changes, a relationship between vasomotor symptoms and the premenstrual syndrome has been suggested. However, attempts to establish such a link have yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between histories of premenstrual syndrome and menopausal vasomotor symptoms within different menopausal stages. Methods:This cross-sectional study recruited Korean women aged 45-64 years who were perimenopausal and postmenopausal from 16 branch offices of the Korean Association of Health Promotion. All subjects completed self-report questionnaires that asked about a history of premenstrual syndromes, vasomotor symptoms, and several other variables. Results:A total of 1054 participants(361 perimenopausal women and 693 postmenopausal women) completed the study. Severity of premenstrual symptoms significantly correlated with postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms, only in late perimenopausal(r=0.213, p=0.010) and early postmenopausal women(r=0.246, p<0.001). After adjusting for several factors related to vasomotor symptoms, a history of premenstrual syndrome was a significant predictor of moderate to very severe vasomotor symptoms in late perimenopausal(OR=5.197, p=0.005) and early postmenopausal women(OR=3.017, p=0.010). Conclusions:This study suggests that a history of premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder is differentially associated with vasomotor symptoms in the menopausal stage. Prospective studies with larger population are needed to confirm these findings

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2003

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate 1) the prevalence of depressive symptoms, 2) the severity of depressive symptoms, 3) the correlation of depressive symptoms with clinical variables, and 4) factors that contribute to depressive symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods: One hundred eighteen patients with Parkinson's disease referred from the Parkinson's Disease Clinic of Dong-A University Hospital, Busan, Korea, completed a self-administered questionnaire package, which included basic demographic data, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Parkinson's disease quality of life questionnaire, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revision(SCL-90-R), and the Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In addition, a structured interview and a complete neurological examination, including the Hoehn and Yahr stage, the motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(some selected scales of UPDRS part III), the Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living scale(ADL), and the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination were performed. Results: 1) Based on BDI score, subjects were divided into four groups:severely(40.7%), moderately(13.6%) and mildly(12.7%) depressive and non-depressive(33.1%). 2) The severity of depressive symptom in Parkinson's disease was positively correlated with Hoehn and Yahr(H & Y) stage(r=0.34, p<0.0001), the severity of motor symptom(r=0.35, p<0.0001), and trait anxiety inventory(r=0.33, p<0.001). On the other hand, the severity of depressive symptom was negatively correlated with educational level(r=-0.34, p<0.001), ADL(r=-0.37, p<0.0001) and Parkinson's disease quality of life (PDQL)(r=-0.69, p<0.0001). Among several clinical variables, the PDQL was the most influential factor predicting whether the depressive symptom was present or not. Conclusion: This study suggests that depressive symptom is very prevalent among patients with Parkinson's disease. Data from this study indicate that medical staffs who take care of patients with Parkinson's disease should pay attention to finding and treating depressive symptom among their patients. With appropriate psychiatric intervention, patient's depressive symptom can be minimized or alleviated and thus, the quality of life in these patients is likely enhanced.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2013

Objectives : Type D personality was originally introduced to study the role of personality in predicting outcomes of heart disease. However, researches showed that other medical conditions are also affected by this personality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between type D personality and somatic symptom complaints in depressive patients. Methods : Eighty-two individuals diagnosed with depressive disorder were included. Type D personality was measured with DS14. Patient Health Questionnaire(PHQ) 9 and 15 were used to measure depression severity and somatization tendencies. For alexithymia, TAS-20 was used. Student T-test and linear regression analysis were performed. The best regression model was determined by stepwise variable selection. Results : More than half of the subjects(56%) complained at least medium degree somatic symptoms according to PHQ-15 criteria. Two-thirds of the subjects were classified as Type D personality(63.4%). The mean PHQ-15 score of the Type D individuals was significantly higher than the remaining subjects(PHQ-15 mean=12.7, $p=8.2{\times}10^{-7}$). The best regression model included age, PHQ-9 score and NA subscale score as predictor variables. Among these, only the coefficients of age($p=1.5{\times}10^{-3}$) and NA score($p=1.5{\times}10^{-7}$) were found to be statistically significant. Conclusions : The result showed that Type D personality was one of the strong predictors of somatic complaints among depressive individuals. The finding that negative affectivity rather than social inhibition was more closely associated with somatization tendencies does not fully agree with the traditional explanation that inability to express negative emotion predispose the individuals to somatic symptoms. The finding that alexithymia was not shown to be a significant predictors also substantiated this discrepancy. However, it might be possible that the high correlation between NA and SI subscore(r=0.65) and between NA and TAS-20 score(r=0.44) hid the additional effects of social inhibition and alexithymia. Further research with a larger sample would be needed to investigate the effects of the latter two components over and above the effect of negative affectivity on the somatic complaints in depressive patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.646-652
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to verify the longitudinal reciprocal causal relationship between depression and the somatic symptoms of depression among adolescents through an autoregressive cross-lagged model using data from the Korean Children & Youth Panel Survey. The subjects of this study included 1,968 adolescents, who participated in the second, fourth, and sixth Korean Children & Youth Panel Surveys. The results showed that both depression and the somatic symptoms of depression at a previous point in time affect depression and the somatic symptoms of depression at a later point in time. It was also found that depression at a previous point in time has a cross-lagged effect on the somatic symptoms of depression at a later point in time, implying that more severe depression at a previous point in time leads to increased severity of somatic symptoms at a later point in time. It was found that the somatic symptoms of depression at a previous point in time have a cross-lagged effect on depression at a later point in time, indicating that more severe somatic symptoms of depression at a previous point in time lead to increased severity of depression at a later point in time. This study is significant in that it provides baseline information about nursing interventions for adolescent mental health.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.88-97
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• 1994

A comparison was made between gastric cancer and gastritis patients regarding stress Perception and depression, using Global Assessment Recent Stress(GARS) scale and Beck Depression Inventory(BDI). 50% of gastric cancer patients and 38% of gastritis patients were found to be depressed on scores of BDI scale, respectively. There was no significant difference in scores of stress perception between both the groups. However, gastric cancer patients tended to be more depressed than gastritis patients, although the difference is statistically not significant. In the gastric cancer patients, severity of psychic distress showed significantly positive correlation with depression, whereas in the gastritis patients, severity of physical symptoms showed significantly positive correlation with depression. It suggested that depression of gastric cancer patients was more likely to be related to the extent of psychic distress than that of physical symptoms. In each of both the groups, female patients showed significantly higher stress perception than male patients, and age was found to have significantly negative correlation with stress perception. In conclusion, severity of pathology of the same organ was not related to extent of stress perception and of depression in which denial of gastric cancer patients might play a role. Thus, it is emphasized that psychosocial approach is more needed for gastric cancer patients than for gastritis patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.54-63
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• 1996

In this cluster analysis of out-patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) we described the psychological features and personality patterns of these patients. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 29 IBS patients who received treatment in the gastroenterology department of Ajou University Hospital to produce individual profiles for each patient. The 29 profiles with 13 standard scales, 15 content scales and 11 personality scales were subjected to cluster analysis resulting in three clusters of the original sample. Titles used to describe the psychological features and personality patterns seen in the three clusters included : (1) depression and anxiety : (2) somatization and denial of affect ; (3) anger overcontrol. Future studies on the treatment of IBS patients may well consider these features, as IBS patients have different psychological patterns.